


philia

by burstaffinity



Series: because i love you [3]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, slight mythra/nia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 16:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30007584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burstaffinity/pseuds/burstaffinity
Summary: Three years later, Rex has a question about the future.
Relationships: Hikari | Mythra & Rex
Series: because i love you [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922188
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	philia

_Man_. Rex was a whole ass eighteen years old. And still short as hell. Still going on about the Salvager’s Code. Still being the same, sweet, accepting guy he always was. But something was off with him today.

It wasn’t uncommon to catch him gazing at the horizon with a corny grin on his face, daydreaming about Alrest’s and being proud at how far they had come. As if _he_ was Alrest’s “Father”.

He wasn’t grinning today. He looked kinda sad. Mythra could feel it, too. Resonance and all that. A sad Rex wasn’t acceptable to her at all, so she marched right over to where he was sitting, squatted down next to him, and asked, “What’s got _you_ so down in the dumps?”

“Mythra!” Rex looked a little startled. He must have known she was nearby due to their resonance, but maybe he wasn’t expecting her to talk to him?

“The one and only,” Mythra replied with a smug grin. “So you gonna tell me why you’re bein’ all mopey, or what?”

Rex looked away, his expression returning that same mopey one he had before. “I dunno,” he said with a shrug.

Mythra gave his shoulder a light shove. “Don’t give me that,” Mythra snapped back. “I _know_ something’s wrong. I can feel it.”

Rex sighed. Indeed, Mythra could feel it: something weighing quite heavily on him. And at his height, it wasn’t the atmosphere. It also wasn’t something he really wanted to say. But with the two of them being in resonance, it wasn’t as if he could hide it. And so, he asked: “Mythra… do you think I’m a good driver?”

Mythra blinked. Hard. Felt herself lean back a little. Was she being too dramatic? She wasn’t trying to be. It was just… “What the hell kind of question is _that_?”

“Well? Am I or aren’t I?” Rex asked, unflinching. She _knew_ he felt her shock – yet, still, he stared at her, unflinching. It was taking everything within him to stare at her like that. To quietly ask her to take him seriously.

That was fair. If he didn’t look and feel like that she would have laughed in his face for being a dumbass. “You like, awoke our true power,” she replied. “Me and Pyra. And we’re standing side by side because of you.”

“I know, but… Do I make you two happy?”

Mythra contained her growl as she sat down properly next to Rex. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Rex broke eye contact, staring ahead with an uncertain scowl. “Blades don’t get to choose their drivers, but they’re obligated to love and obey them,” he said. “Even you and Pyra, even though you’re different from everyone except Malos. You still didn’t get to choose who’d awaken you. You didn’t get to choose me.”

“And your point is?”

“I…” Rex looked down to his hands, folded and twisting in his lap. Whatever he needed to say next… he _really_ didn’t want to. And that scared the _shit_ out of her.

“Just… get it out!” she spat, looking away from him, closing her eyes to brace herself for whatever horrible thing was about to come next.

After a pause that felt way too long, way too heavy, he quietly asked: “Would… finding another driver… make you happier?”

Right. He wanted her to leave.

_No you simpleton. That’s not what he wants at all._

“ _Simpleton_ ”. How long had it been since someone called her that? But it was still lodged in her brain as… What she really was. Simple. Stupid. A dumbass. Rex wasn’t asking her to leave because he hated her, _you big dummy_. _Not everything is about you and your –_

No. Stop.

“But… who else?” she asked, shooting Rex a firm glance. “Who else can be our driver? It took us 500 years to find someone who could handle our true power. 500 years to find someone who wasn’t. Afraid of us. You think finding someone like that is as easy as standing in a crowd asking hey who wants to be the Aegis’s driver? You _know_ there’s so, _so_ many people just ready to abuse our power. And you want to throw us away, to that, because you feel a little, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours. What _is_ going on in your head?”

“It’s just… I dunno! I just don’t think it’s fair you’re stuck with some kid because of an accident. I’m not saying I don’t want to be your driver or that you shouldn’t love me, I just…”

“You’re right,” Mythra said roughly. “It’s not fair. But what the hell are we supposed to _do_ about it?”

“I don’t know. I… _I don’t know!_ I can’t… I can’t _change_ any of this! The way you blades are, the way you _have_ to obey your driver, it. It isn’t fair! You’re not _things_ you’re _people_ you _deserve_ to be able to choose who you want! That’s how it’s like with us humans but… I’m just one person. I can’t change--”

“Why do you think throwing us away will change _anything_?”

“I don’t _want_ to throw you or Pyra away! I just want you two to be happy! To… have a choice in _something_ , you know?”

The statement lingered in the air, unanswered.

Because no, Mythra didn’t know.

She _did_ like Rex. Really! He was a great friend. But he was right. Neither of them chose him. He came to them by pure chance, and Mythra wasn’t sure that either of them would choose him if they _could_ choose. Like… what did Rex have that made him strong enough to handle Pneuma’s sword, that Addam lacked? It didn’t make sense. Rex was just a kid. Addam was of royal blood. Even if Rex was descended from Addam, there were several generations between them. And Rex had been fifteen at the time. Never worked with a blade before. Absolutely none of it made sense. But…

She _did_ like him. She liked spending time with him. It was. Refreshing. To be around someone who wasn’t always nitpicking at what was wrong with her. Who just let her be herself. Who didn’t think it was weird that she’d created Pyra. Who didn’t think anything about her was weird. Did that make her… simple? Stupid? Had she thrown so much. _Love_. Into something that didn’t matter? Was there really someone out there who was better at everything than Rex and she was just too much of a dumbass to sense it?

“Hey, Mythra?”

His hand was gently resting on her arm. She could barely make him out when she looked at him. Her eyes were too full of tears.

So she could barely see him when he leaned in to hug her.

She didn’t. She didn’t want to “let it all out”. Like it was stupid, right? She was upset because _she_ was stupid and Rex had just… he didn’t _mean_ to but he just. Laid out how _fucking stupid_ this whole thing was. She put her trust in some random _kid_ and it.

And it what?

It changed the world. That’s what it did. They were sitting on new land. To them, anyway. The different countries of Alrest weren’t at war with each other. They all had someplace to live. Someplace to call home. Things weren’t _perfect_ , any more than finding a good driver was _perfect_ , but it was damn sure better than what it was.

So why? Why did she feel like this wasn’t enough? That it wasn’t _good enough_?

Was that what happened when everyone around you kept harping on how shitty you were? You just. Started to believe it? That everything about you was shitty. That nothing about you was good. That nothing you ever _did_ was good. That everything you did was shitty, bad, and wrong – because it was _you_ who did it. You who _tainted_ it.

But was that true?

Like… the world was _different_. It was _better_. It was _getting better_. Because Rex and her friends fought to make it that way. Because _she_ fought to make it that way. With Rex. So it wasn’t perfect, so she still didn’t know if she’d have chosen Rex if she had a choice, but. Things worked out, right?

“Mythra?”

Mythra rubbed at her eyes with one hand and patted Rex on the back with the other. “I’m…” Okay? No, but… “Thanks.”

“Sorry I made you worry, Mythra,” Rex said, pulling back from the hug.

Mythra waved a hand. “Yeah, whatever.”

“I really don’t want to get rid of you or Pyra. If anything I think you two’ve kinda out grown me.”

“So, what? You want us to put out an ad that says ‘Think you’re **Man Enough** to handle the Aegis?”

“Man? What about a woman?”

“Does it really matter? Man, woman, person… as long as they’ve got **guts**.”

Rex blinked. He knew Mythra was joking, but Mythra could sense that he wasn’t quite sure if he was allowed to –

“Laugh! Come on!”

“Oh, well, ah.” He scratched his head. Didn’t laugh.

Mythra rolled her eyes. “You got any ideas for who _you_ think would be **strong enough** to handle us?”

A light seemed to go off in Rex’s head, as if she had reminded him of something he’d been meaning to say. “What about Nia?”

Mythra’s eyes widened.

_Nia_? Be _her_ driver??? Like, Nia the… “W-what do you know about me and Nia?”

Rex’s mouth broadened into a _wicked_ grin. “Oh, I’ve got eyes, Mythra. You and her have been getting along _real_ well since we found this land.”

“You haven’t. Said anything to her, have you?”

“Oh, so you admit it, do you?” Rex aptly dodged the hand she swiped at him. “Isn’t that something you should tell her yourself? I mean, she’s a flesh eater. She’s not getting any younger!”

“...I’ll tell her when the time is right.”

“Maybe you should tell her right now.”

“It-- it-- mind your own business you little runt!”

Rex laughed. “One word off from soundin’ like Malos!”

“I’m not using _that_ word around someone with delicate ears!”

“I can drink now, Mythra. I’m not a child anymore. Hey, listen to me: _shit._ ”

Mythra gasped dramatically. “When I see that Malos next I am _so_ going to have words with him.”

“Like ‘shit’?”

“ _Quit it!_ ” She shoved him playfully.

Rex didn’t dodge, just let himself be pushed gently. He laughed to himself for a moment, then continued: “I wasn’t just thinking of her because of… _that_. She’s a flesh eater, so I thought, maybe it’d be good if she had a blade who could heal her, make her healthier, you know? And if anyone else could handle an Aegis, it’s her.”

“But then I’d be a cringe blade who’s dating her driver.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothin’,” Mythra said with a smirk.

“Whatever you say, Mythra.”

“Anyway. Let me. Think about that. It’s gonna be a long ass think, though, so don’t think you’ve gotten rid of me just yet.”

“Even if you take someone else as your driver, we’ll always be friends, okay?”

Mythra held up a pinkie. “You promise?”

Without hesitation, Rex hooked his pinkie around hers. “And swear to die.”

“You better not be doing that on me any time soon, mister!”

“Didn’t plan to.” Rex looked back out towards the horizon again, falling silent. Mythra was content to sit with him in that silence – _especially_ after. All of that.

But after a while, he asked: “Say, Mythra, do you think that… Ontos, wherever he is… do you think he’s happy? You said he was a guy, right?”

“Yeah. I still don’t remember much about him, but. Bits and pieces have been coming back. I don’t think he was as human as me and Malos was. Y’know, like. If you talked to him he’d kinda come off as robotic. But from what I can remember he was a real nice guy. I hope he is happy, wherever he is.”

“I hope I get to meet him,” he said. “Him and all the people of his world.”

Mythra looked out at the horizon with him. Normally she’d say “ _dork_ ”, because she couldn’t handle the genuine emotion of the moment, but… “Yeah. I hope I get to meet them, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write this for the anniversary last year but my brain said no. As usual


End file.
